Are you kidding me? It took almost a year for me to overcome the distraught feelings and pain suffered after the discontinuation of WDA was announced! Now Mr. Beer is toying with our emotions by offering a limited release!
https://www.mrbeer.com/winter-dark-ale-craft-refill
ps added to cart

Ah, tasted a sample of my extra strong Lenten beer (based on. a recipe for the Mr. Beer "German Doppelbock").. I added Mt. Hood Hops, 2 LME Robust, and a "few" boosters.) It was my first time building off a Mr. Beer extract beyond the base recipe. After 6 months of conditioning, at a cool temp in a dark place The brew, which I am calling Parsifaltor, (so called because I was trying to create a err similar to Salvator and the fact that I sang Wagner opera professionally) is smooth, malty, dark, with a slightly sweet aftertaste! And, as to the strength, it settled in. at 11% (thus the "-ator" addition to the name). Following the type, the higher ABV sort of sneaks up on one and no driving will happen after consumption!
While I hoped it would be ok, it surpassed all my expectations. A great deal of the success of this quaff is due to the suggestions, recommendations, and warnings from this group! Thanks to all. Pros't!

I have been a brewer and Mr. Beer customer for a relatively short time compared to most here. My favorite brew so far has been the Hacked Root Beer. My first batch was AMAZING! But sadly, the next two were not. I did not understand what I did wrong in subsequent brews, nor could the friendly folks HERE track down my issue. As suggested by a regular poster here, I turned to customer support. Created a ticket and waited. It took a while for the first reply and I responded. After that... nothing. I replied twice more, but still no activity from a rep. I got impatient and created a NEW ticket to complain about the first. Again, no activity. Convinced I was being ignored, I angrily closed out BOTH tickets and answered the resulting survey with just exactly how I felt. Well, turns out I was NOT being ignored. There apparently was some sort of glitchy snafu in the ticketing system and my emails were not being seen. Shortly after my tantrum, I was contacted by Rick Zich, who explained the situation, apologized and assured me my original rep would be handling this. And shortly after that, he was. Tim Falk emailed me, also apologized, offered a monetary credit to my account and sent me a replacement HRB refill... which arrived today. Now I guess it's time for ME to apologize. I was too willing to believe I was being ignored that it never crossed my mind that there could be technical reasons for this. I have never had an issue with Mr. Beer products, shipping, their website or any members of the forums in the past. There was no reason to believe I was having one now.
Thank you Tim Falk and Rick Zich for understanding my frustration and handling this in such a professional manner. Your generosity and concern for this impatient old man will not be forgotten.
Cheers,
- Dean Rohs -

Just poured a glass of the Long Play! As a reminder, it fermented in a 70F closet (didn’t have my inkbird and mini fridge yet) for 18 days, cold crashed for 3 days, bottled for 21 days, then bottle was in fridge for 3 days before I poured it today. Pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t as hoppy as I like (I’m partial to very hoppy IPAs). The malt flavor was more than I like, but still not too malty at all (guessing it was probably due to the hops not being too overpowering like I like). It also seemed too carbonated at first, but not enough to ruin the mood. Overall happy with how it tasted. Can’t wait to compare them after I put a few more in the fridge on Sunday, which would be 4 weeks in bottle at that point.
I’d give it a 7/10 - very decent! I’m looking forward to my next batch for sure! In a few minutes, I’m gonna start bottling my second batch of Long Play, and a batch of the Aztec, then will clean up the LBKs and start fermenting a batch of Diablo and a batch of Northwest Pale Ale!

@Werwer2018 Dude, there are many responses to your question and some explanations right here in this thread including one from a Mr. Beer CS rep himself, so yes, you did get an answer from Customer service (including an apology) It may not have been the answer you already had set in your mind you wanted (go here, they have it, brew on and enjoy) but it was an acceptable answer on how to help solve your query. The most valuable answer came from DEFbrewer that gave you information on the parent company (Coopers), which is much easier to get in store in Canada, including a store locator link that can narrow things down even more. Even if you do a quick Google search it would be of good help.

No, I did not know this because I don't drink Miller, nor do I have any desire to research their recipes. I have heard of tetra iso-extract, but didn't realize Miller was using it. I assumed they were using some sort of chemical treatment. Again, I don't drink Miller.
The reason I ask here is because this is a FORUM, which is intended for discussion among the forum members. These discussions wouldn't happen if everyone just went to Google.

Some rules of thumb from my experience and from the collective wisdom of this forum:
1) The lighter the beer, the longer it needs conditioning to eliminate any extract twang (aka Conway Twitty).
2) If you're doing a hoppy beer, #1 does not usually apply. So things like IPAs and MRB recipes like Witch's Flight and Columbus's Cascading Amber can and should be enjoyed while still young.
3) Weizens don't need to condition long and you can start enjoying them at minimum conditioning time.
4) Darker beers such as stouts and porters are usually quite good right at the MRB recommended conditioning times. But as with most non-hoppy beers, they improve with age.
5) If it's a high ABV brew it'll benefit from longer conditioning.
When in doubt about whether one of your brews is ready or not, put one in the fridge, let it sit for three days, then drink it. If it tastes good to you, then the batch is good to go. If not, let them rest for another few weeks, then try one again. But even if you think the batch is great as is, it's always a good learning experience to keep a couple of bottles conditioning and trying them after longer periods of aging. I've done that and learned:
1) Yes, IPAs ARE best while young. The hops do fade after a while. What's left is still tasty but it's not what you'd consider an IPA.
2) A "meh" beer can become a quite enjoyable beer. This happened for me with Heavy McWee which was "meh" at minimum conditioning time but became really tasty after another couple of months.
3) The high ABV brews like Lock Stock & Bourbon Barrel Stout can become absolutely fantastic given time. It's been 15 months since I bottled my batch, we had some today, and it knocked everybody's socks off it was so good.

I'm cold crashing my first beer, Long Play IPA right now. Beer making is very exciting but In slow motion. I bought a second LBK and started another beer, Bohemian Czech Pils last week just to have some more beer making to do. Maybe I should have waited to see how the first comes out? For the second, I followed all of the excellent advice I've learned here. Now that I have two LBKs and two ice chests to control fermentation temps, the pipeline has begun. Next in line is a Klondike Gold. It is still kind of early for anyone to complain that a keg of beer is taking up a lot of space in the refrigerator. Oh well, I'm making beer!!

I dried the spent grains from brewing American Resolution Hazy IPA this morning. Some will go into the bird feeder, some into dog treats, and some are sitting on the counter in and on a loaf of beer bread my wife made, waiting to be sliced up and eaten with dinner.

I agree, any blanket statement made about how you should enjoy your beverage is borderline snobbery in my opinion. I encountered this a lot in the craft beer scene. Lot of people telling you what you aught to be enjoying. I think some get so caught up in etiquette and this view of what beer should be that they forget to just enjoy it. Hundreds of thousands of people drink Budweiser directly out of a can every day and are satisfied with it. Are they wrong? I don't think so. Since taste is so subjective it's hard to tell anyone their way is wrong.

Just a heads up for you guys that free shipping on orders over $39 will start this afternoon and run through the weekend. It's the best time to stock up on those Winter Dark Ales before they're gone again.

Picture if you will, mother yeast at the trubside of little baby yeast, "I don't feel good mama yeast", so the dutiful mother yeast pulls out the yeast thermometer and takes his yeasty temperature. Ahhhhhh, a veritable beery Norman Rockwell moment brought to you by Malt, grain and Mr. Beer.

That could be interesting to make it out there. Please edit your first post with all the information so that people don't need to scroll down to get the details. At least one of us from Mr. Beer should be able to make it, Pat is from Chicago, I am a Purdue grad and ran hotels in Merrillville before delving into beer in Arizona, so we know our way around the midwest. One way or another, I think we can do something.

@swenocha This first attempt is basically an experiment to see what kind of souring I can expect using a mixed culture of Lactobacillus and other yogurt biota. Although I cheated slightly by adjusting the initial pH of these starters using lactic acid, I'm trying to favor the growth of L. acidophilus and L. brevis. In the end, this will be a straight-up, LBK-sized Sour IPA. Hopefully later attempts will utilize fruit, barrel aging, etc., but since I'm a total nube to sours, I'm gonna keep this one fairly simple. If successful, a @Creeps McLane-inspired Berliner Weisse will be next!🍻

when you get into all grain and realize that you can make 5 gallons of a cream ale that tastes BETTER than store bought crap.... and it only costs you about 18 bucks in ingredients and maybe 10 hours total of work? i call that winning. 10 twelve oz bottles for about $3.60 beats $7 for 12 any day.
as for missing a step.. said it before... beer used to be made in the most unsanitary conditions by fat, sweaty men who thought stirring the wort with the ancestral magic stick made beer. they didnt know about germs, bacteria, or yeast. i treat each batch like it was a child i produced. just because it may not come out stellar doesnt mean i love it any less. open a micro brewery??? and have to SHARE my beer even for profit???? NEVER! it's MINE MINE MINE! ALL MINE YOU HEAR ME? MINE!

if your fermentation area is around a stable 65-66f air temp , the beginner will likely have no problems. when you start shelling out more money on kits and want to improve your quality, that's when a chiller box and temp control starts becoming more important.
temp control is important because during the first 3-5 days of fermentation, the yeast are most busy. when they get stressed in these critical days they tend to make esters or chemical compounds that can contribute off flavors. new brewers often have their fermenters in rooms that are hot or subject to wild swings in temperature... and the yeast often get stressed , producing acetaldyhde .. which gives your beer that cidery green apple twang that new brewers often complain about.
your first dozen kits are when you learn the craft.. build skills and knowledge... find out what mistakes you made and what they did to your beer etc... every kit can teach you something. i've been brewing for a measly 4 years and i am still learning new stuff each time... and the process still fascinates me.

I carbonate every batch at 76 for 3 weeks then I store at my basement temps which are in the low 60s. I have goofed and had a batch get above 90 for a couple of days during carbonation (actually won a medal for that beer).
Carbonation temps don't have the same effect on your beer that high fermentation temps do.

LOL! I know how you feel, i was up to 3 LBKs with in the first month. I will make one recommendation... do not go too fast, it can cause frustration, anger, and bad beer. Take the time to read, read, read and then read some more there is great information around this form, Feel free to ask questions, we are here to help. Learn and develop the process and hone it well, you will be rewarded for your efforts in the way of better beer. Cheers and welcome to your new obsession.... ooops i mean hobby!

Think of a keg as a very large bottle of beer. If it is a style of beer that ages well then, yes, you can leave it at room temps, but cellar temps are always preferred (55-65). But as Rick said, a couple of months at 75 should be fine. Just be sure you are purging the headspace with Co2 just before carbonation (while pulling on the pressure relief valve, add some Co2 for a few seconds to allow it to push oxygen out of the tank, then release the valve and let it carbonate at your desired pressure).
Always store your IPAs and lagers cold.

Many are going to say that 68-70 is too high of a temperature for fermentation. Especially if you are talking about the room air temp. That's when you get the apple flavor. I am no pro, but have been using an ice chest with a couple of frozen bottles on one side. I keep a thermometer taped to the other side of the chest reading around 60 and have not had the cidery taste yet. Works for me - Just a suggestion.

Before @RickBeer steps in here and issues a citation . Slowing down because of quantity of beer is not an option. I have over 500 bottles in my inventory that are either full or waiting to be filled. If you find you have too much beer to drink yourself, let your friends know you brew and that will never be a problem again.

Today was day 21 of bottling for my first home brew batch (Long Play IPA). Went ahead and put 2 in the fridge so I can taste in a few days and compare vs 4+ weeks bottling.
Today was also day 21 of fermenting my 2nd batch of Long Play, and a batch of Aztec Mexican Cerveza. Excited for these since they were kept at 65F with my inkbird. Went head and started cold crashing at 35F.
Will update after tasting!

- Booster will up the ABV without affecting the flavor.
- Brown sugar when devoured by yeast will leave a bit of a molasses taste plus some ABV. Molasses flavor in an Oktoberfest just doesn't sound appealing.
- An LME will add about 1% ABV and will affect the final taste and color of the beer to varying degrees. Any LME would complement the Oktoberfest with the exception (IMNSHO) the Robust.
Here's a list of all MRB Recipes that use LME (or DME) and the Oktoberfest HME. Taking a look at them might give you some insight and inspiration in to what you might want to try and brew.

Mr. Beer's web site has a very good method of narrowing down their recipes by selecting the HME and/or other aspects. Also, if you have Excel, you can use the spreadsheet I created
http://community.mrbeer.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=3813
It helps in narrowing down recipes and shows full ingredient lists, etc.
MiniYoda......shameless self promotion.

They are just giving the new guy a hard time. The laid back, don't worry, have a homd brew approach works for me. Yes, there are millions of wild yeast cells snd mold spores, but your beer will be gone before it matters. The simple reminder is learn from your mistakes. Figure out the process. Proctice the process. Live the process. Open your microbrew pub next year. LOL.
As for the spigot, spray it with sanitizer before bottling. Immerse it in sanitizer if that's more reassuring before bottling. He needs to be given a pat on the back for realizing he missed a step in the process.

In the future, after letting the sanitizer sit in the LBK, open the spigot and run some through it.
Prior to bottling, the spigot should also be sanitized, with a spray bottle or a shot glass filled with sanitizer.

They likely have lost some carbonation.
When you get the new bottle caps with the rings on them, put them on an empty bottle, tighten until the ring breaks off, then remove. Then use the bottle.
If you switch to new caps, you need to cut off the old ring from the bottle first, cannot have 2 rings on a bottle.

hands you a scourge and a card that reads "Mea culpa, mea culpa.. maxima mea culpa" <- repeat while scourging self until forgiven by the Beer Gods.
From Constipations 5:15-16 in the Holy Book of Beer
"Let the foolish repent with a heavy and contrite heart. there shall be forgiveness, beer and heavily salted pretzels with honey mustard dipping sauce for all for the Beer Gods are merciful and kind."

Secondary fermenters are rarely necessary. Unless you are transferring onto fruit or bulk aging for an extended period of time there is no need to transfer to a secondary. This is a process that has hung on with some brewers who have been brewing for a lot of years. It used to be that it was necessary to get the beer off of the yeast but isn't any longer.

Sugar is inherently anti-microbial, so you don't have to worry about it in and of itself. Just what's touching it. If I'm using table sugar, I use the sanitizing solution on the funnel and measuring spoon that I use. When using Domino's Dots (which is pretty much all I do now) I just make sure my hands are clean.